Preliminary Design and Performance Analysis of a Multi-megawatt Scale Dense Particle Suspension Receiver

A novel receiver concept is presented, based on the use of a dense particle suspension as the heat transfer medium; this medium allows receiver operation at high temperatures (above 650 °C), resulting in significant gains in power plant efficiency. A 10 MWth receiver has been designed based on the scale-up of a 150 kWth prototype currently undergoing testing. The predicted thermal efficiency is 81.3%, well above the design target of 70%. Material temperatures within the absorber tubes were maintained below 850 °C throughout the receiver, below the limits of high temperature steels.